The new iPhone hardware was announced by Apple on Monday. It's going to be faster, have video recording and editing capability, the camera is now 3MP and has a cool auto-focus feature, and has voice control.

I'm almost 1/2 way into my 2 year contract. Some Apple fans are peeved about having to pay a premium (instead of $199 for the 16GB and $299 for the 32GB, you'll have to pay substantially more if mid-contract), but I get the whole contract thing.

There does seem to be some conflicting information as to when current plan holders will be eligible for the subsidized pricing.

My question to current iPhone 3G owners -- are the new features attractive enough for you to pay the higher cost, or are you going to wait?

I'm holding off, at least for now. One report says you become eligible AFTER the one-year mark on your plan, another says after 18 months. Either way, I'm not sure I want to commit to another 2-year contract with AT&T. I get bad reception at home and in my neighborhood in general. There's a lot of chatter that Apple might open up the iPhone to more US carriers sooner rather than later. I might wait another year when my contract expires in hopes that Verizon or another carrier has the iPhone and I can jump ship from AT&T.

I had a 1st gen phone, and would be upgrading when the new one comes out, if the old one hadn't hit the floor and stopped working a couple months ago. I had to get a 3G and am only 3 months into my new contract.

I'll stick with my first generation for now. It's the curse of being an early adopter. Same with my now "classic wedge" Kindle, lol. Hey, as long as they still do what I need them to, I'm okay with being a few models behind. I AM happy that we'll all get the OS upgrade

I think I'm going to stick with my 1st generation iPhone at least until December (when my contract is up) or when it finally dies, whichever comes first. It sickens me to see an 8GB iPhone go for $99 now when I paid $399 for mine, so I'm definitely going to get my money's worth out of my current "old" iPhone. It meets my needs, and the OS 3.0 update next week will freshen it up a bit.

Bigman, yeah the 3.0 software upgrade should help. Though, the voice control and video recording features on the new iPhone are really software based, and COULD be on the 3G, but Apple says the current model isn't fast enough to handle them. Sounds a bit sketchy.

I don't know about you, but I think the interface needs one major improvement. I have five pages of apps on mine. The new global search is going to help, but I think it's time for Folders or some other way of organizing all the apps.

EricLA saidI don't know about you, but I think the interface needs one major improvement. I have five pages of apps on mine. The new global search is going to help, but I think it's time for Folders or some other way of organizing all the apps.

I thought one can just upgrade for free online when you lug your phone in. Am I talking about the samething or something else. The one where you get Bluetooth capability and copy/paste is what I'm talking about

I have the orginal iPhone paid $599 for it. My contract is up this month. I have been a customer of AT&T since 2002. I went to see if I was eligible...I am NOT. According to them since my payments are always late I must wait until 4/21/10. That is great customer service don't ya think? I hope Apple goes away from AT&T or at least opens the phone up for the other carriers. I loved T-Mobile.

Yes - current iPhone users will get upgraded to the OS 3.0 software for free. There is also a new iPhone being released two days later, the iPhone 3Gs. The new "phone" has a better camera, video capability, fast processor, etc. Here's a comparison link: http://www.apple.com/iphone/compare-iphones/

most of the new features are software related. Likethe editing and such. So at first I as like help yew I'm getting it, then I looked ip the update xmng out next week and I will be getting most the the new features. I don't need a video camera in it phone I never used that on it old phones. And the camera is just find e for me as well. For me there is no real advantage. And I actually lovethat I'm posting this from my 3g LOL and it's working fast enough haha. It's also the reason why my pnctuation is mostly periods LOL. Iphone owners you know what I mean with the double space right ;-) LOL

EricLA saidBigman, yeah the 3.0 software upgrade should help. Though, the voice control and video recording features on the new iPhone are really software based, and COULD be on the 3G, but Apple says the current model isn't fast enough to handle them. Sounds a bit sketchy.

I don't know about you, but I think the interface needs one major improvement. I have five pages of apps on mine. The new global search is going to help, but I think it's time for Folders or some other way of organizing all the apps.

In response to voice control, all I can say is " there's an app for that" LOL it's called vlingo it can search the Internet for you make calls and give you directions all with voice control and I think it's free. I delete it tho cause I never used it

EricLA saidI don't know about you, but I think the interface needs one major improvement. I have five pages of apps on mine. The new global search is going to help, but I think it's time for Folders or some other way of organizing all the apps.

I've had my 1st gen since July of 2006. I thought then that 8Mb wasn't enough. So the day that 32Gb hits the store, it'll also be the day it's in my hand.The little hardware advances will be icing on the cake. The GPS, the compass, video camera with auto focus, the processor that's much faster, are all good and will be put to good use, but 32Gb for music will be great for my music.

I won't complain about price when I originally bought it since the service switch from verizon was 6 dollars more a month and the phone paid for itself in 4 days.

the not fast enough for video is bullshit, it is a software upgrade and that is all you need.

I love apple but I wont be upgrading. I upgraded last time because it went 3g but the this phone is twice as fast was bullshit then and its even more bullshit now. the iphone 3g was marginally faster than the original iphone, largely because of the 3g network the change in speed for the 3gs will not be noticable to the average consumer. they are talking about clock speeds under best conditions for various processes. You never have ideal conditions so if anything you might gain a millisecond on me but ill also have afew hundred bucks sitting in my pocket. and the 3gs starts at 199 the 99 dollar model is the old 3g model.

@ Cruel Summer: Yes, you're talking about the software OS 3.0 coming out next Wednesday, which is free. Not to be confused with iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS. All these numbers and letters do get annoying.

@ Kalexxx: Ouch, that's harsh! Sorry to hear that!

@ Chaos: Your auto-correct feature on the iPhone didn't help you much with your first post. Gave me a headache trying to read that one. ;-) It would be nice if RealJock had an iPhone app, wouldn't it? And there's another voice app called "Dialer," which I have. It's just not the most practical. The integrated feature looks really smooth. And I like being able to select songs, playlists, and even having it tell you what song is currently playing. I can live without those features, but they would be nice...

@ Bgcat: That compass feature looks cool, especially integrated into maps. Again, it's something I can live without, but it's an attractive feature. But not enough to get me to buy the new model.

@ Chungo: Agreed. Given my experiences with A&T a boost of "up to" 2x the speed isn't much consolation if I'm still losing calls because of their horrible coverage area in my neighborhood. If that issue is fixed before another carrier gets the iPhone, I could conceivably stay with AT&T, all things being equal. But I don't expect that to be the case. I just hope the rumors that Apple is in touch with Verizon is true and that they end their exclusivity with AT&T soon.

Totally agree with Chungo and some of the others. The 3GS is just a gimmick, and sometimes I wonder if that's the only tricks Apple has these days.

I also think that AT&T is absolutely screwing over the rest of us since they won't even have something like MMS setup. All it takes is to change a piece of data on the customers who each own iPhones. It's not like AT&T doesn't already offer MMS for their other phones.

Skotlake saidTotally agree with Chungo and some of the others. The 3GS is just a gimmick, and sometimes I wonder if that's the only tricks Apple has these days.

I also think that AT&T is absolutely screwing over the rest of us since they won't even have something like MMS setup. All it takes is to change a piece of data on the customers who each own iPhones. It's not like AT&T doesn't already offer MMS for their other phones.

I'll upgrade my 3G when they actually change something worthwhile.

Well, I certainly wouldn't agree "that's the only tricks Apple has these days." Apple can't innovate game changing features EVERY year. They're great, but not that great! Even their laptops and software have only incremental improvements most years with big generational changes usually about every three.

Totally agree with you about AT& T on the MMS (and tethering). It's an embarrassment to Apple that AT&T can't deliver at least on MMS immediately. That's just sad.

I'm sticking with my 3G. It's only 6 months old now, and with the 3.0 software on it it feels a fair bit snappier. Sure, faster would be nice, but I"d rather spend the $600 it'd take to upgrade, elsewhere.

I've got the 3G. I've been very happy with it, though I am not, and probably won't ever be able to proclaim myself a "techy guy" or a "mac-guy". I like what works. The 3G has proven to be tough, durable, easy to use, and in my area, offers excellent service.

The only thing I really don't like is that you can't send or receive picture text messages. It's not worth upgrading to the new phone for that. I'll upgrade my software, but for me, I don't see it improving the functionality of the device much.

I guess I'm a basic user. I'll upgrade when this one dies...which...hopefully, is another two - four years. It's almost a year old now.

ncsucarjock88 saidI've got the 3G. I've been very happy with it, though I am not, and probably won't ever be able to proclaim myself a "techy guy" or a "mac-guy". I like what works. The 3G has proven to be tough, durable, easy to use, and in my area, offers excellent service.

The only thing I really don't like is that you can't send or receive picture text messages. It's not worth upgrading to the new phone for that. I'll upgrade my software, but for me, I don't see it improving the functionality of the device much.

I guess I'm a basic user. I'll upgrade when this one dies...which...hopefully, is another two - four years. It's almost a year old now.

NC, you do not need the new iPhone for MMS. That comes with the software update. BUT, AT&T won't be able to support it until "later this Summer." So, you'll get that feature on your current iPhone.

bigmanc03 saidIt sickens me to see an 8GB iPhone go for $99 now when I paid $399 for mine, so I'm definitely going to get my money's worth out of my current "old" iPhone. It meets my needs, and the OS 3.0 update next week will freshen it up a bit.

Come on now... how can you be that sick? Haven't you learned your lessons from the iPod or the computer lines? Mac is constantly upgrading and altering their product line. It only stands to reason that they'd do the same with their iPhone. Personally, I do not yet have an iPhone, but will probably be purchasing one around March of 2010 when my contract is up with Verizon. Though, I kind of hope Apple will open up their phone to other providers so I can keep Verizon, because I kind of detest AT&T.